After months of waiting Disney Dreamlight Valley is finally here and although Disney might be late to the the life-sim party, Disney Dreamlight Valley brings a charming new twist to the genre thanks to that Disney magic we all know and love.
Dreamlight Valley may not have had a super smooth launch thanks to some founder pack and ID issues but bare in mind this game is still in Early Access and after a few hours the initial bumps were smoothed over allowing fans to dive into their very own Disney Adventure.
With so much potential and promise for Dreamlight Valley I honestly couldn’t decide on which platform to purchase the game, with the only real certainty being that I would be picking up the Founders Ultimate edition (Call me a sucker for Disney). Initially I had decided to pick up the game on Steam so I could rekindle my love for sitting hours on end playing fellow life-sim game the Sims but as stated earlier Steam were having a few teething issues so I had to get a little resourceful so I could get my Disney fill sooner rather than later.
For those fans who may be unsure if they want to invest in the Disney Dreamlight Valley Founders packs, there is another free alternative thanks to Xbox Game Pass which means you don’t have to wait until that full free release in 2023. Of course that does mean you will have to have an existing Game Pass subscription but I advise looking around as you can often pick up a subscription for as little as £1.
With that in mind I just couldn’t wait any longer and decided to jump in the Xbox Game Pass version of the game even if it meant I couldn’t get my Ultimate pieces until later. Fast forwarding just a little in the end I decided to pick up the Playstation 5 edition of the game so that I could share my Disney Journey with my Niece thanks to PlayStations console sharing options.
When starting your Dreamlight Valley you are tasked with creating your very own Disney Character with various options for hairstyles and makeup with pieces like clothing available to customise and create once you begin exploring within the main game. Once you’ve created your character you’re welcomed with a charming video package giving a brief overview of your characters backstory before being thrown right into the Mystery of Dreamlight Valley and the curse of the ‘Forgetting’. We won’t divulge all of the plot here but it goes without saying that Dreamlight Valley is just as magical as you would expect and doesn’t disappoint. As the name implies the residents of Dreamlight Valley are under some sort of spell or curse with many characters forgetting who they are as a person (or Mouse I guess) and forgetting those they know and love around them. The great thing about the forgetting is that it allows Disney & Gameloft to continuously add new Characters, Biomes and stories with the premise that others simply just forgot about them (We’re hoping for some true Disney Gems here).
I will say in my first hour time and time again I stop myself getting too wrapped up in talking to my favourite characters or just clearing pesky Night thorns to try and get a broader sense of the game. If like me you’re an avid Disney fan (putting it lightly) I challenge you to not talk to Goofy when he comes bouncing along all happy and gleeful, trust me it’s impossible. In one instance towards the final moments of my hour there was a super cute moment between Goofy and Wall-E with the pair bonding over being shy, I have no shame in saying the interaction made me tear up and that right there is the magic of not only Disney but Dreamlight Valley.
Dreamlight Valley is packed with small instances like this, similar to the likes of Animal Crossing but there is just that added flicker of magic that just makes moments like these that little more special and no doubt something I will remember for quite some time.
In the tradition of similar life-sim games there is your usual farming, mining, fishing, cooking and crafting elements with most activities taking up a chunk of your stamina bar. Each activity takes up a small chunk of your stamina that can be replenished by either spending some time in your Character’s home or divulging in your favourite snack or homemade meal.
After a small portion of the game you are rewarded with your very own cooking stove (or you can just use the stove at one of your friends houses) which allows you to start cooking up some of your favourite meals including crackers, stuffed peppers and fruit salad just to name a few.
When cooking there is the option to blindly throw ingredients together which can be found throughout Dreamlight Valley by either picking herbs or growing your own vegetables, or alternatively you can find recipes from Ratatouille’s Chef Remy scattered throughout the game for players to find. Consuming one of the homemade meal tends to replenish more stamina than eating fruits and vegetables but it does require having a stove on hand to use.
In true life-sim style players can start their very own garden with different seeds and fruits found throughout the realm including wheat, carrots and cabbages which can either be used to prepare a meal, consumed individually or even sold at Goofy’s local Market stall.
Mining and fishing provide nothing groundbreakingly new to the genre but they do provide precious gems and colourful fish which can be used to increase your coin which can then be used to purchase other crops and seeds at Goofy’s stall or clothing and furniture once you renovate Scrooge McDuck’s store. Like mining and fishing, crafting is also nothing profoundly new for the genre but it does allow you to create some gorgeous Disney pieces (don’t worry you can create in bulk too!) which can be placed in your home around the island.
Unlike some other life-sim games your handy tools like your pickaxes and fishing rods won’t break overtime but at the earlier portion of the game they won’t be able to fulfil their true potential with Merlin enchanting your tools later down the road. In one instance Merlin briefly enchanted our watering can to allow us to remove some of the Mushrooms scattered along the island close to his home.
If the daily island chores won’t keep you occupied the endless island customisation options certainly will, with the option to place anything practically anywhere you want and move your house next door to Mickey Mouse at no cost (here’s looking at you Tom Nook). Whilst I personally haven’t moved any of the structures around just yet, the potential to create my very own Disney village is awesome and I can’t wait to gain more villagers to populate my Valley.
If you can pull yourself away from designing and gardening Dreamlight Valley has a leg up on some of the life-sim competition with a series of quests, which provide players with coins, clothing and materials just to name a few. Most quests seem to have multiple steps for completion with the standard Collect X amount of Y, Talk to said character just to name a few examples. Thanks to the Disney charm and warmth of the village so far these tasks have felt far from the chore and if anything gave me an excuse to interact with my favourite characters. Interacting with characters also builds upon your friendship level which provides their very own rewards including motifs, furniture and more with epic rewards being achieved at level 10.
Like friendship levels your own character can level up by completing tasks and quests which provide a boost to your stamina level so you can complete more tasks before becoming tired as well as providing rewards such as wallpaper, flooring and more.
As you spend time within Dreamlight Valley completing tasks, talking to friends and simply doing your day to day activities you may complete additional Dreamlight duties which when claimed gain dreamlight. Each Dreamlight duty provides different amounts of dreamlight with dreamlight rewards increasing in value depending on the duty required e.g removing 100 Night thorns rewards you with more dreamlight than removing 50 etc. Dreamlight can then be spent to unlock different biomes and lands within the game but we don’t want to spoil too much of the magic and allow you to experience if for yourself, what we will say is that we loved our first encounter with Wall-E which felt straight out of the movie thanks to the Hello Dolly score and world building.
Whilst we may not have ventured too far and wide on our Disney Dreamlight Valley adventure each piece of land is just as magical as the next with each portion seemingly having it’s own connected musical score to encapsulate the area and moments. Without providing any spoilers we have already had interactions with Mickey Mouse, Goofy, Scrooge McDuck, Merlin & Wall-E with Vanellope Von Schweetz, EVE, Beast, and Remy teased in the very early portion of the game.
As you may be able to tell we’ve had a Magical time with Dreamlight Valley so far and it goes without saying I’m now well passed that 1 hour mark of playtime as of writing this. Dreamlight Valley manages to create a warmth and comfort all of it’s own thanks to those iconic Disney IPs and as a huge Beauty and the Beast fan I can’t wait to encounter Belle, the Beast and if I’m lucky the Enchanted Castle itself.
Dreamlight Valley may not bring anything game changing to the genre with some of it’s day to day menial tasks and quests but the love and attention to detail with every item, clothing and character interaction elevates each conversation, craft and island design. The fact I can create a Disney Village for Mickey and friends alone is mind blowing to my inner child, or the fact I can go fishing with Goofy and listen to stories of what makes him happiest, whilst being childish to some this is the Disney magic that makes me happiest.
I feel like I’ve only scratched the surface here today with Dreamlight Valley with various empty buildings, missing characters and the mystery of the forgetting all looming and to play for, pulling me in with every passing moment. The only issue is trying to decide what I want to do first, do I cook to create money to buy new furnishings, do I sit and talk to Mickey and Goofy for hours on end. There is just so much to do and little time to do in the daytime
I can only hope that Disney and Gameloft continue to build on Disney Dreamlight Valley in the months and years to come with additional characters and biomes entering the scene almost providing unlimited content to any Disney fan. The early access build already provides such a hefty amount of content that will keep me entertained well into the new year and beyond so I hope you’ll join us and keep us updated on your own Disney adventures in Dreamlight Valley. Get in touch and let us know who you want to see added to the game and which Disney Character you would move next door to given the chance!
P.S Put some money in a jar every time I say magic or magical, you’ll have enough for a Disney trip before you know it!
